Armenian, Russian Defense Ministers Discuss Bilateral, Multilateral Cooperation

MOSCOW — Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan discussed in Moscow on Friday the prospects for enhancement of bilateral cooperation, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

Defense Minister Papikyan reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to closer military ties with Russia and spoke of “new challenges and threats” facing the two allied countries.

“I can assure you that I will do my best to further develop Russian-Armenian defense cooperation,” the Russian Defense Ministry quoted him as telling Shoigu at the start of their talks.

“Obviously, all these challenges and threats facing our states can be overcome only by acting together,” Papikyan said.

Shoigu was said to thank Armenian authorities (Armenia is chairing the Collective Security Treaty Organization) for a prompt and very important decision to send CSTO peacekeepers to Kazakhstan earlier this year, which according to Shoigu ‘allowed us to quite vigorously and very effectively help our Kazakh colleagues in resolving the critical situation.”

It was Papikyan’s first visit to Russia in the captaincy of Armenia’s defense minister.  He noted that “in this context, the meeting at the level of defense ministers of the allied states is of particular importance.”

The discussions also touched upon the ongoing reforms and modernization of the Armenian Armed Forces.